The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

To be attached to a thing means that mind and the thing meet and grow into each other.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.